The Last Straw
by Raptron
Summary: Turmoil forms within the Predacon ranks as Megatron gambles everything on a strange signal. All the while, Blackarachnia's subversive feelings grow. Please R&R!


Raptron grumbled something under his breath as he landed in Grid Pi to search for Terrorsaur. He found him scattered all over the ground in various places, in various pieces. He sighed as he was unable to collect all of them.   
  
"Computer! Scan for fragments of unit Terrorsaur!"   
  
"Acknowledged. Scanning... scanning... scanning." There was a brief pause as the computer completed its task. "Fragments of unit Terrorsaur found. Locating..."   
  
Raptron's computer engaged his targeting visor and hi-lighted the locations where Terrorsaur was.   
  
Raptron cursed. "Slag! He's splattered all over the slagging sector!" He sighed and flew to each location to gather the pieces.   
  
It took Raptron three more hours to fully collect all the pieces of Terrorsaur. Some were even pulverized circuitry that luckily Raptron had a replacement for. It took him another two hours to put Terrorsaur back together, but finally all he had to do was fix his mangled leg.   
  
"Ow! Watch what you're doing!" complained Terrorsaur, as Raptron used a welding instrument to reattach Terrorsaur's leg to his knee joint.   
  
"Shut up!" growled Raptron as he sparked away at Terrorsaur's super-structure. "This is your own fault!"   
  
Terrorsaur squawked again. "What!? Mine!? We were outnumbered 2 to 1! I didn't see you there helping us!"   
  
Raptron sighed and grumbled. "I was there..."   
  
Terrorsaur snickered. "What's the matter, did you lose?" He grinned at the raptor.   
  
Raptron grumbled and jabbed at Terrorsaur's knee with the welding device. "Shut up or I'll shut you up!"   
  
"Ow... ouch!" Terrorsaur complained. "Just hurry up! That's an order!"   
  
Raptron grumbled, but hastened his pace as ordered. As much as he hated it, Terrorsaur was the air commander and his direct superior in rank. "Yes, sir. I'll be done soon."   
  
Terrorsaur yelped again as Raptron began working once more. "You'd better be done soon!"   
  
Raptron grumbled to himself. "Yeah, yeah... you incompetent idiot."   
  
"What?"   
  
Raptron chuckled. "Nothing..."   
  
Raptron worked feverishly for another hour before Terrorsaur was completely repaired.   
  
"Are you done yet!?" demanded Terrorsaur once again.   
  
Raptron roared. "Yes! Now cease your slagging whimpering!"   
  
Terrorsaur laughed. "Well, have fun finding the others! I'm going back to base!" He leapt into the air and began to fly away.   
  
Raptron roared again. "Oh no you aren't!" Raptron jumped and grabbed Terrorsaur by the legs and held him in place, no matter how much the pterodactyl tried to get away.   
  
Terrorsaur squawked. "Let... me go!"   
  
Raptron laughed. "You will remain here with me and help me find Waspinator and the others."   
  
"Or what?"   
  
Raptron roared and slammed Terrorsaur into the ground hard. Before Terrorsaur could move, he had a saber pointed in his face.   
  
"Or I'll have to use this!" Raptron chuckled at the frightened Predacon beneath his foot.   
  
Terrorsaur looked at Raptron and laughed nervously. "Going? Who said anything about going anywhere?"   
  
Raptron grinned and let Terrorsaur up. "That's better. Now lets go." Raptron engaged his jets and took off with Terrorsaur franticly trying to keep up.   
  
  
  
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Blackarachnia woke up early in the morning the next day. She sighed and slowly left her quarters.   
  
"I wonder if Tron is home? I've got nothing else to do..." She walked down the metallic corridor and knocked softly on Raptron's door. She waited a few minuted and growled when there was no response. "Slag! He's not here... computer, locate Raptron!"   
  
Her computer beeped a recognition as it worked. "Unit Raptron is approaching Grid Xenon."   
  
"He must be going to get Waspinator. Is anyone with him?"   
  
"Unit Terrorsaur."   
  
"Hmm... Raptron must have repaired him already. Raptor-boy works fast." She walked towards the nearest exit. "Perhaps I should go meet him? Yes..."   
  
Avoiding the security cameras, Blackarachnia leapt onto the ground from a second story exit port and began her sprint to Grid Xenon.   
  
  
  
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Raptron cursed as he arrived over the dense pine forest. "Slag it! Now where is that puny insect? Computer, scan for fragments of unit Waspinator!"   
  
Again the computer hi-lighted the areas where Waspinator was. Luckily he was, for the most part, still in one piece. Rather, he was in two complete pieces.   
  
Raptron landed near the halved wasp-bot. "Primus! Can none of you fight?"   
  
Waspinator giggled. "Raptor-bot here to help Wazzzpinator?"   
  
Raptron sighed and brought out his tool kit as Terrorsaur landed nearby. "Yeah, yeah. I'm here to help Wazzzpinator..." he sat down and began to attach Waspinator back together.   
  
Terrorsaur laughed. "Waspinator, can't you ever do anything right?"   
  
Raptron growled. "You're the one to talk! At least Waspinator here wasn't splattered all over the slaggin' sector!"   
  
Terrorsaur laughed nervously. "Wha... What are you talking about?"   
  
Raptron sighed. "Yeah, I knew you'd say th--" Suddenly Raptron snapped to his feet and looked around the trees.   
  
Terrorsaur looked at him questionably. "What's going on?"   
  
Raptron held up his hand for silence. "We're being watched... from the trees. Somebody is hunting us now..." He turned around to look at the surroundings. "Terrorsaur, you're dead..." he spoke quietly as he concentrated. "Waspinator... not a threat... and me.... me? Oh slag!"   
  
Raptron put his hand up just in time to catch the projectile heading for his head. He gasped and looked up at it. It was a cyber-venom dart.   
  
Raptron grinned. "Blackarachnia."   
  
Blackarachnia jumped down from a tree branch. "Hello, boys!" she laughed when she saw the look on Raptron's face.   
  
Raptron chuckled. "You sneaky little spider! I believe this is yours." He tossed the cyber-venom dart back to Blackarachnia.   
  
Terrorsaur was leaned against a tree gasping. "Don't... do that... again!!"   
  
Blackarachnia grinned. "Aw... did I scare the 'wittle pterodactyl?"   
  
Raptron laughed. "Looks like you did! I think Waspinator passed out there..." He pointed down to Waspinator who was now out cold on the ground.   
  
Blackarachnia grinned slyly. "I'm just a bad girl." She winked at Raptron. "I'm quite surprised you detected me. Your senses are very keen, Tron."   
  
Raptron smiled. "Thanks. It was almost too late... another second and I'd be paralyzed on the ground right now!"   
  
Blackarachnia grinned and raised a brow. "Really?" She suddenly turned towards Raptron and jabbed the cyber-venom dart he had tossed her into his arm.   
  
Raptron's optics went wide. "What? What are you doing!?" He fully expected to be on the ground and unable to move, but no such thing was occurring. "Hey! Nothing happened!"   
  
Blackarachnia smiled and pulled out the cyber-venom dart, which now held no venom. "Exactly! When you were created, I injected cyber-venom directly into your bloodstream. Your new body accepted it, and never rejected your new blood type. That has had the effect of making you immune to even the most powerful venoms. In fact, you could probably dish out a good toxic bite with your raptor jaws there."   
  
Raptron stood there amazed. "Wow... I guess a thank you is in order."   
  
Blackarachnia chuckled. "Glad to do it, Tron. Now I'll help you with ol' Waspy here."   
  
Raptron sighed. "Yeah, then we have everybody else to go."   
  
The pair sat down again and began to reconnect the wires to Waspinator's halves with Terrorsaur watching uninterestedly.   
  
Suddenly, Waspinator started to move again. "Oh... Wazzpinator hurtz... help Wazzpinator..."   
  
Raptron grumbled. "I had enough whining with Terrorsaur! Don't you start it too!"   
  
Waspinator whined. "But, Wazzpinator more important than pterodactyl idiot!"   
  
Terrorsaur grumbled. "Who are you calling pterodactyl idiot!?"   
  
Waspinator continued to buzz. "Wazzpinator thinks he's calling Terrorsaur a pterodactyl idiot!"   
  
Terrorsaur growled some more. "Oh yeah!?"   
  
"Yeah!"   
  
"Well I'll..."   
  
Raptron roared. "Shut the slag up!!"   
  
Instantly Terrorsaur became quiet and sat down on a log. Waspinator continued to mumble.   
  
"Wazzpinator alwayz get yelled at! Wazzpinator getz no rezpect, Wazzpinator tell you... no rezpe..."   
  
Blackarachnia reached behind Waspinator's neck and disconnected his voice box with a precise cut from her pincers. "That's better."   
  
Waspinator's mandibles still moved, but no sound came out.   
  
Raptron sighed. "Thank you! I owe you one!"   
  
Blackarachnia smiled. "You can pay me back later. Now lets finish up here."   
  
Raptron half-smiled and nodded as he continued to solder the wires together again.   
  
  
  
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Megatron snoozed in his throne. He was actually glad to have most of his troops out of the base. It gave him quiet. In fact, the only noise on the command center at the time was Rampage drumming his fingers on the metallic barrel of his warhead launcher.   
  
"When will that fool wake up?" Rampage wondered aloud. "I should just take my spark back. Or, failing that, rip out his spark..."   
  
The wailing of the klaxon sirens interrupted Rampage's devious thoughts.   
  
"Wha... where?" Megatron snorted awake and fell from his throne to the catwalk below. It took only seconds for him to regain his senses. He glared at Rampage. "Idiot! What did you do!?"   
  
Rampage quickly put his warhead launcher away. "I didn't do anything! It must be one of your idiotic troops!"   
  
Megatron displayed the spark crusher for Rampage.   
  
Rampage stood up from his seat angrily. "I did not do anything, you pathetic saurian!"   
  
Megatron cackled. "But I'm sure you were going to do something, yessss." He clamped down on Rampage's indestructible spark hard. "This will teach you to defy me!" He kicked the ailing Rampage out of the way and strolled to a computer monitor.   
  
The Predacon computer beeped happily. "Massive energy surge located in grid Tau-7. Energy is of unknown origin."   
  
Megatron's face lit up. "Unknown? That means it's alien! Yessss...." He sat in his throne and spun around in excitement.   
  
"Bah!" scowled Rampage. "It said unknown energy source. It could be anything!"   
  
"Silence!" boomed the tyrannosaur. "It is alien! I can feel it!"   
  
"But it could just be energon! Look there," Rampage pointed to a spot on the computer screen where some information was displayed. "It says that signal is coming from at least two kilometers underground! That could be any number of things! A body of water could bend the signal's wavelengths, or some sort of element in this rock could alter the signal as well!"   
  
Megatron slammed the console. "It is alien, you hear me!? You need a reminder that you are my slave, and I am your master!" Megatron compressed the spark crusher with all his might and Rampage quickly hit the floor clutching his chest as the energy surges went through him.   
  
Rampage twitched as the shocks of pain shot through him like red-hot lava flowing through his veins. "But... but Megatron, if it is alien as you say, how are we going to get to it? It's far underground..."   
  
Megatron laughed and held up his hand to signal Rampage to cease talking. "Well, my dear Rampage, we'll get Raptron the Defender and my other so-called loyal troops to dig it out."   
  
Rampage finally struggled to his feet. "That means I'm going to have to dig too doesn't it?"   
  
Megatron chuckled. "What do you think?"   
  
Rampage sighed. "Slag."   
  
Megatron laughed and spun in his throne to look at the data. "Indeed."   
  
  
  
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Waspinator giggled. "Wazzpinator seez grid Tau!"   
  
Raptron nodded. "Thank you, Waspinator." He grumbled sarcastically.   
  
Terrorsaur squawked angrily. "Hey! I saw it first!"   
  
"Wazzpinator thinks Terrorzaur should cloze hiz beak!"   
  
Terrorsaur glared at the wasp beside him. "That's it! I am going to--"   
  
Raptron roared up at the two squabbling Predacon flyers. "Shut up!!"   
  
Terrorsaur gulped. "What he said..." Terrorsaur flew silent the rest of the way.   
  
Grid Tau still showed the after-effects of the massive battle between the Predacons and the Maximals in where Night Flyer was lost to the Maximals. Blast craters and missile fragments littered the ground, as did mech-fluid stains and pieces of armor.   
  
Raptron looked at a set of footprints that he recognized as Dinobot's and his own. He picked the sword that he had used in that battle. It had mech fluid and mud caked on it, a perfect reminder of the battle that night and of the rain the previous night. Scattered in various places were Tarantulas and Scorponok. A little ways away was Inferno.   
  
"Slag," Terrorsaur gasped in amazement. "This had to have been one hell of a battle!"   
  
Blackarachnia looked oddly at Terrorsaur. "No... there's all these blast craters here because of a fistfight. Stupid dinosaur..."   
  
"Hey! I happen to be a dinosaur!" Raptron complained, but couldn't help but laugh at Blackarachnia's sarcastic tone.   
  
Blackarachnia smiled and shrugged. "I'll check out legs over there, you can see to shell-head." Blackarachnia grabbed her scanning device and walked over to the fellow spider.   
  
Raptron nodded and turned to Waspinator and Terrorsaur. "You two bring Inferno back here."   
  
Terrorsaur nodded and took off with Waspinator buzzing after him.   
  
Raptron grinned at ordering his air commander around. "I like command. I feel as if I am a naturally created commander," he said to himself and went to tend to Scorponok.   
  
Raptron laughed at the fallen Predacon beneath him. "Some second-in-command," he jeered and went to work. "Oh great. More circuitry to replace." Raptron reached into his subspace pocket and retrieved the circuits needed. He crouched beside Scorponok and inserted a tool into the gash.   
  
Blackarachnia kicked Tarantulas in the head. "Why did you have to get yourself slagged, webs? And why do I have to repair your worthless shell?" She saw Raptron scowling at Scorponok. "You need help?" She called to him.   
  
Raptron waved his free hand no. "Almost got it," he worked carefully and slowly. "Got it!" Raptron extracted the tool and with it a fried circuit board. "Now to replace it."   
  
Blackarachnia smiled. "Guess you don't need help. I'll just go back to legs then." Blackarachnia began repair on Tarantulas' damaged armor and wiring.   
  
Raptron couldn't help but smile. "There. All done with the circuitry. Wake up, Scorponok!" Raptron took the Predacon second-in-command out of stasis.   
  
Scorponok slowly sat up and rubbed his head. "Wh- what happened?"   
  
Raptron moved Scorponok over to a rock where he could rest. "You were defeated in battle. The Predacon traitor did this to you."   
  
Scorponok scowled. "Dinobot! That little..." He suddenly looked up in terror. "The pod...?"   
  
Raptron looked to the ground. "Lost. Megatron is most displeased with our efforts."   
  
Scorponok looked ready to cry. "Slag."   
  
Raptron smirked. "Megatron doesn't worry me. Come on, sit still. I have to patch up your exo-structure." He took out another tool and a piece of armor. "This might hurt a bit." He began to solder the metal around the gash to close it.   
  
"Be careful there!" whined Scorponok. "I'm second-in-command!"   
  
Raptron growled. "Yes, sir. Of course you are."   
  
As Raptron worked, Waspinator and Terrorsaur landed near him with Inferno. They looked at Raptron who motioned for them to but the much larger Inferno down.   
  
"Just leave him there," Raptron sighed. "I'll fix him as soon as I'm done here."   
  
Terrorsaur threw his half of Inferno down on the ground hard. "Gladly! That oversized metal idiot gave me a backache!" He whimpered as he cracked his back and then hobbled over to a log where he sat down.   
  
Waspinator went to sit down too, but he caught site of Inferno's wound. He cocked his side and scratched his head. "Hmmm..." he wondered aloud and bent down to take a closer look.   
  
Blackarachnia scowled as she jury-rigged some wiring back together inside Tarantulas. "I've got to congratulate you, Webs. When you get scrapped, you certainly do it right." She sighed as she connected two more wires.   
  
Suddenly, Tarantulas' optics blinked. "Ahhh!!! How could you leave alone with the witch!?" He flailed around his arms which were his only limbs working.   
  
Raptron chuckled. "It's alive!!"   
  
Blackarachnia growled at jumped to her feet. "Not for long!" She planted her left foot and kicked Tarantulas with all her force across the face. She then shoved the unconscious spider onto his back again.   
  
Raptron shrugged his shoulders. "It's unconscious!"   
  
Blackarachnia grinned and went back to work.   
  
Raptron smiled as well then reached for his tool kit to complete the repairs. All he grasped was earth. "What the slag!? Who took my repair kit?"   
  
Suddenly Inferno sat up and rubbed his head.   
  
Waspinator also stood up with a tool in his hands.   
  
Raptron joined Terrorsaur in looking with amazement at Waspinator.   
  
Inferno stood up and confronted Raptron. "You! Where are we? What happened to the stasis pod for the royalty?"   
  
Raptron rolled his optics. "Terrorsaur can answer your queries."   
  
Inferno nodded and walked over to the much smaller pterodactyl bot.   
  
Raptron continued to look at Waspinator. "Um... Waspinator... how did you do that?"   
  
Waspinator shook. "Wazzpinator sorry... Wazzpinator did not mean to steal tool kit. Wazzpinator just needed a class-six soldering tool to repair the damaged neural circuitry in ant-bot's central processor."   
  
Raptron was stunned. "How... how did you know all that?"   
  
Waspinator stood up slowly. "Wazzpinator not know. Perhaps my circuitry is malfunctioning..."   
  
Raptron's optics went wide. "What did you just say?"   
  
"Wazzpinator said that Wazzpinator's circuitry is malfunctioning..."   
  
Raptron shook his head. "No... you said `my', not `Waspinator'."   
  
Waspinator shook again. "Wazzpinator sorry."   
  
"Don't be sorry, Waspinator. This is a good thing." Raptron walked over to collect his tools to finish up Scorponok.   
  
Scorponok laughed. "Who cares? He's still Waspinator!" He laughed and fired a mega-missile at close range.   
  
Amazingly, he hit nothing but air. Scorponok went to get up, but looked right into the barrel of Waspinator's missile launcher.   
  
Waspinator glared at Scorponok. "Not smart. Now you die!"   
  
Raptron ran in between them. "Waspinator, stand down!"   
  
Waspinator hesitated then disarmed his weapon and looked at Scorponok again. "You're lucky..." He then grabbed his head. "Wazzpinator not feel so good..." He fell to one knee.   
  
Raptron looked oddly at the ailing Waspinator before returning his attention to Scorponok. "Almost done here." He took his soldering tool and completed the makeshift armor repair. "Good as new, Scorponok."   
  
Scorponok stood up. "It's about time." He dusted himself off and motioned at Waspinator who was still clutching his head. "What about him?"   
  
Raptron tapped Waspinator with his foot. "We will take him back to base and stick him in the CR tank. I don't know what more we can do. Hopefully that will fix this error."   
  
Blackarachnia packed up her tools and revived Tarantulas. "Looks like the bug has one."   
  
Raptron continued to push Waspinator with his foot. He cocked his head to the side and spoke to himself. "Maybe this isn't a bad bug. Maybe it can be quite beneficial to us... to me."   
  
Scorponok looked down upon Waspinator. "Raptron, help him back to base. We shall go back to Megatron now!" He went to beast mode and led the way.   
  
Tarantulas stood up and stretched. "Hmmph! As if I'd ever want to go back to that tyrant!" He went to motorcycle mode and drove off into the shadows.   
  
Raptron powered up his jets. "Won't we be able to follow him to that secret lair you told me about by just going in that direction?"   
  
Blackarachnia shook her head. "Nope. He'll drive that way for about 10 kilometers, then circle around to go in the direction of his lair. It doesn't really matter though. I know where it is."   
  
Raptron looked at her for a few seconds. "How?"   
  
Blackarachnia shrugged her shoulders and began to walk off. "It's a long story."   
  
Raptron picked up Waspinator and walked after Blackarachnia. "Well I have plenty of time."   
  
Blackarachnia hurried her pace. "No you don't."   
  
Raptron grumbled and quickened his pace to keep up with her.  
  
  
  
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Megatron cackled insanely as he watched Rampage through the computer screen. "Excellent, yessssss. All is proceeding to my design."   
  
Rampage's eerie voice came over the comm. "Signal jamming devices in place. The Maximals won't detect it now."   
  
Megatron threw his arms up in celebration. "Yes! Oh yes indeed! The Maximals will never detect the signal now and I shall be free to claim whatever power it offers! How delicious, yessssss!"   
  
His gloating was interrupted by Raptron walking down one of the catwalks with Waspinator in his hands.   
  
Megatron whirled his throne around and smiled at Raptron with mock happiness. "Ah, Raptron! So glad to have you back. I trust you had fun on your mission?"   
  
Raptron glared up at Megatron and dropped Waspinator to the catwalk floor. "Oh I had immense fun. I can't think of a time when I've been happier!"   
  
Megatron grinned. "Good. Now to your respective quarters. I have an important mission for you in the morning. I want you rested."   
  
Raptron growled. "But many of us need time in the CR tanks!"   
  
Megatron slammed his fist on the computer console. "Do not question my orders! Inferno and Scorponok will use the CR tanks tonight. The rest of you will do without. Now go!"   
  
Raptron's optics kept locked on Megatron, filling with hate. He picked up Waspinator and continued to glare at him.   
  
Blackarachnia put her pincer on Raptron's chest and slowly guided him over to the exit. "Save your strength, Tron. His poor leadership will be his downfall."   
  
Raptron growled loudly. "What do we do about Waspinator?"   
  
Blackarachnia opened the door to the elevator. "Let's take him to your quarters." She held the door for Raptron and then pressed the down button.   
  
The two stood in the elevator in complete silence. The only sound coming from a slight sigh from Blackarachnia when she noticed out of the corer of her eye that Raptron was staring at her.   
  
After a few moments the elevator reached the bottom and the pair stepped off. They continued to walk in silence until they reached the second door from the end of hall, Raptron's door. Blackarachnia opened it and allowed Raptron to carry Waspinator inside before following him in and locking the door behind her.   
  
Raptron set Waspinator very carefully onto a couch that sat near a round table with a large metallic object on it.   
  
Blackarachnia couldn't resist looking around. "You certainly have redecorated, Tron." She felt no need to mention that the pictures of her were all there and in the exact same place they were when Raptron moved in. She walked over to the table and picked up the metallic device that slipped on her arm. "Hey, what does this..."   
  
"Hey! Watch it there!" He pushed the device up so it wasn't pointing at him. "You could have vaporized me with that thing!"   
  
Blackarachnia grinned. "So it's a weapon?"   
  
Raptron nodded. "Yes. And a particularly powerful one at that! Here, let me show you." He went into a back room and came out with a square canister that glowed. "This is the equivalent power of an energon cube. This is one magazine for that weapon. Good for twelve rounds."   
  
Blackarachnia slowly put down the weapon. "Only twelve rounds from one energon cube? What weapon is this?"   
  
Raptron smiled. "That is a miniature sized version of the fusion cannon found on the Decepticon warship Nemesis."   
  
Blackarachnia took a step back. "The Nemesis! But how in the Pit do you know the makeup of a fusion cannon!?"   
  
For the first time Raptron paused and thought. "I don't know." He looked puzzled. "I just had an idea one night and began to build this. It's not quite finished yet though."   
  
Blackarachnia smiled to herself. "A weapon like this would strike fear into Megatron's spark." She turned to talk to Raptron again. "I have to go get some things from my quarters. Be back soon, Tron."   
  
Raptron nodded and watched Blackarachnia leave his quarters.  
  
  
  
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Megatron sat silently in his throne, which hovered over the CR tanks. "Yessss. My goal of ultimate conquest is drawing close. I can feel its power. Yessss. But Raptron poses a threat. Blackarachnia is getting to him with her propagandist ways. I must cease this immediately before it gets out of hand. Hmm... perhaps an offer of rank and power will sway his loyalty over to me." He slammed his fist down on the intercom button. "Attention Predacons! There is an important task for all of you tomorrow. All report to me at 1030 hours. Raptron will command this mission!" He cut off the transmission. "That will do it... yesss..."   
  
  
  
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Raptron looked over the circuit board inside the miniature fusion cannon. "He wants me to command? Interesting."   
  
"Very interesting indeed." Blackarachnia said as she stepped in with an armful of items. "Don't just sit there, help me!"   
  
"Oh... yeah." Raptron scrambled to his feet and grabbed some of the things Blackarachnia was holding. "Tool kits, electronic equipment and, a case of Cybertronian ale! Where did you find that?"   
  
Blackarachnia smiled and put down her load. "From the goods hold! Where else?"   
  
Raptron's optics widened. "We have a goods hold?"   
  
Blackarachnia glared at the box of ale which refused to open. "Yep. Of course it's heavily protected and only Megatron and Scorponok have access."   
  
"So how'd you get in?" Raptron extended the handle of his saber to Blackarachnia.   
  
She grabbed it and split open the case. "I broke in of course!" She grinned and tossed Raptron his saber back.   
  
Raptron chuckled. "I should have known. So what's with all the equipment?"   
  
Blackarachnia opened a canister of ale and tossed another to Raptron. "I figured I could take a look inside Waspinator's head. See if I can't get him working again. Maybe even find out what caused his rush of efficiency today." She sipped her ale as she looked puzzled at the wasp-bot's head.   
  
Raptron opened his can with his killing claw and took a drink. "So what can I do? Want me to help you?"   
  
Blackarachnia shook her head. "I can handle this myself. Why don't you work on your weapon? I'd love to see it in the morning."   
  
Raptron shrugged his shoulders. "Sure! Why not?" He picked up his tool kit and studied the circuit board to determine where he left off. Once he found where he began to work again.   
  
Blackarachnia grinned. "Excellent! I can't wait to see it!" She plugged an interface into Waspinator's head and typed on a computer console. "Now, Waspinator, let's see what makes you tick... or buzz for that matter."   
  
Raptron smirked a little at the joke and continued to work. "I just have to do some of the intricate circuit work on the targeting system and then I'll be almost done." He took a fine tool and engaged the magnifier on his optics. He carefully began to spark at the circuit board, completing the sub-circuits.   
  
Blackarachnia nodded and continued to probe the data. She paused for a few minutes and then spoke as she typed. "So, Tron, how's your new, er... your body holding up?"   
  
Raptron paused a minute to study the circuit board under a lamp. "It's good. Although I still have this weird feeling that it's something foreign to me. And this base. It feels like home yet it feels like a prison for some reason. It's all puzzling."   
  
Blackarachnia studied some data for a few seconds. "Like when you said `maximize'?"   
  
Raptron stopped his work temporarily and looked at little embarrassed. "Yeah. Like that." Raptron sighed and went back to work. "Blackarachnia, how long have you been functional?"   
  
Blackarachnia smiled. "Surprisingly enough, I don't know. I have heard a few theories. Some say I had lived on Cybertron before the Axalon crashed and that I was turned into a generic protoform. When we crashed my identity circuits were destroyed. Another theory says that I was basically a blank formless protoform with just a spark. When I was programmed, I got my abilities and personality."   
  
Raptron sighed. "What about me then?"   
  
Blackarachnia could see the pain in his face. She wanted to comfort him in some way, but ceased herself. "I don't know Tron."   
  
Raptron's face took one of sadness and anger. "But these memories..."   
  
"Those can't be explained either..."   
  
Raptron looked hurtfully at Blackarachnia. "Then what in the Inferno am I!?"   
  
"I--"   
  
"Don't know! You don't know! Nobody does... not even me." Raptron threw the fusion cannon down and walked to the back of the room to cool off.   
  
Blackarachnia thought it wiser to stay seated although she just looked ahead at the wall. "Tron, I do know one thing. You are Raptron. A Predacon soldier. And my friend."   
  
Raptron took a sip of his ale. "I just wish I knew more and was more."   
  
Blackarachnia sighed.   
  
Raptron sighed.   
  
"Look, Tron," Blackarachnia resumed typing again. "We really should get back to work. Sunrise comes quickly."   
  
Raptron drank the rest of his canister of ale. "Yes. You are correct." Raptron slowly walked over to his workstation, aware of Blackarachnia's gaze, and sat down on the floor near the table. He sighed deeply and began working on the fusion cannon once more.   
  
The two sat in complete silence for almost twenty minutes, each working on their projects.   
  
Finally a gasp from Blackarachnia broke the silence. "Tron! Look at this!"   
  
Raptron quickly put down what he was doing and scrambled over to the computer screen. He stared at the screen with disbelief. "A disabling program. That's definitely not right."   
  
"No slag, Sherlock. I bet you it got scrambled when Waspinator got damaged and what we saw was the real him. Scary."   
  
Raptron crossed his arms in thought. "Can you remove it?"   
  
Blackarachnia shook her head. "Nope. See here?" She pointed at some symbols on the screen.   
  
Raptron put his arm around Blackarachnia and leaned down to see.   
  
She turned her head, looked at his hand and then at him.   
  
Raptron sighed. "Sorry." He removed his arm and leaned on the chair.   
  
"Anyways," she pointed to the screen again. "This line of code here ties this disabling program directly to his spark. We remove the program, we remove his spark. Megatron is quite efficient in these things."   
  
Raptron sighed again. "I thought you hated him?"   
  
Blackarachnia opened another canister of ale and took a sip. "I do. I just give credit where credit is due. Megatron has made this disabling program impossible to remove."   
  
Raptron snorted. "I am beginning to dislike this Megatron."   
  
Blackarachnia couldn't help but smile.   
  
"Is there anything you can do?"   
  
Blackarachnia sighed and stretched. "Well... I might be able to reprogram the disabling program a little. Perhaps bring a bit of his ability out."   
  
Raptron nodded. "Sounds good. I hope it works."   
  
Blackarachnia chuckled and began the coding. "Hey, it's me! Of course it'll work!"   
  
Raptron smiled and made his way back to the worktable. "Of course." He opened up another canister of ale and went back to work.  
  
  
  
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Megatron paced uneasily on the command deck when Scorponok's repair cycle completed. "Finally!" he exclaimed and pressed the button to raise Scorponok from the tank.   
  
Scorponok looked at Megatron fearfully. "Megatron! Please forgive me! The pod was lost!"   
  
Megatron growled. "Idiot! That's old news! And not one I want to hear the recap on, no."   
  
Scorponok flinched. "Yes, Megatron." He stepped onto the catwalk beside his leader.   
  
"Now follow me!" Megatron boomed and left the command center followed closely by Scorponok.   
  
Megatron turned to his subordinate as they ambled down the dark corridors. "We must prepare, yesssss. I feel as though something big will happen very shortly. Something which will change the direction of the Predacons greatly. I feel as if fate is making a choice. A choice of whom shall lead the Predacons to glory. I intend to be that one. And I must ensure that I am that one. I have come too far to lose it all now. That's not saying that I don't like to gamble... I just don't like to lose."   
  
Scorponok walked blankly beside Megatron, trying to understand the meaning of what he said. Finally he got it. "What is the plan then?"   
  
Megatron opened the door to his quarters and let Scorponok in. "I'll tell you..."   
  
  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
  
  
Raptron completed another circuit with one hand while opening another canister of ale with the other. A pile of nine empty canisters lay beside him. Blackarachnia reached for her sixth canister and had begun to look a little out of it.   
  
Blackarachnia slammed her fist down on the computer console. "Slag it! This code keeps eluding my reprogramming efforts! This is going to take a lot longer then I thought." She sighed and took a long drink from her ale.   
  
Raptron completed a circuit board and inserted it into its proper slot. He sighed and turned to the female spider. "Blackarachnia, what is love?"   
  
Blackarachnia almost spit out her ale in shock. "L--Love?"   
  
Raptron nodded. "Yes. I'm most confused over it. I'm trying to decipher exactly what it is."   
  
Blackarachnia was still a little stunned. "Tron? A--Are you feeling love?"   
  
"I don't know."   
  
Blackarachnia stopped what she was doing and turned her body towards Raptron. "Well, love is a feeling you have where you want nothing more than to be with that other person. It's the strongest emotion some say."   
  
Raptron nodded and noticed Blackarachnia yawn. "That is another thing that has perplexed me. Why do we sleep? We should not need rest."   
  
Blackarachnia sighed at the topic change and went back to typing. "Well, with our current situation on this planet, we sometimes can't get the energon we need to not get fatigued. Creating a process to counteract that would be a feat of genius. Luckily, our own beast modes fixed that. They gave us the ability of sleep and through sleep we can recharge. It's not as effective as energon cubes, but it works."   
  
Raptron nodded slowly. "Thanks. I appreciate you helping me with these things. I guess I haven't fully become comfortable around here yet." He smiled and chuckled.   
  
Blackarachnia smiled and nodded. "Glad to do it, Tron."   
  
Raptron nodded back. "One more question. Who, or what, is `Decepticon'?"   
  
Blackarachnia smiled a little. "The Decepticons are our ancestors. They, under the command of Megatron and later Galvatron, fought in the Great War against the Autobots. In the end, the Autobots won and that is why the Maximals rule Cybertron. We Predacons were forced to fight for what we have now... and that isn't much. We have had it rough back on Cybertron. Now Megatron has messed things up even more by stealing the golden disk. Where did you hear that name anyway? Did you use the ship's computer?"   
  
Raptron thought for a few moments and then shook his head. "No, I haven't. I got it from my data tracks... just then. Now I can't find it again. Perhaps it was a small glitch or something. All well." He shrugged and went back to working on the fusion cannon.   
  
Blackarachnia grinned and sighed. She turned back to her computer and thought to herself. `You are more than meets the eye, aren't you? I must look into this.'   
  
The two worked on their projects in silence for close to an hour until Raptron finally broke the somewhat awkward silence.   
  
"Blackarachnia," he said while working. "I want to thank you for helping me figure things out. You are my only friend. I just want you to know I care about you very much."   
  
Blackarachnia's jaw dropped and she made a mistake in her typing when Raptron said those words. She wanted to say something in return, but found herself stumbling over her own words. All she could do was sit in silence. She glanced over at Raptron who was occupied trying to connect a difficult circuit. She swallowed hard and slowly resumed her work.   
  
Raptron focused in on the difficult circuit and frowned at it, wishing it to connect. `Love is a very interesting thing... it is indeed.' he thought. He smiled and connected the difficult circuit.   
  
The two worked in silence once again until Blackarachnia jumped up from her chair.   
  
"Yes!" she exclaimed happily. "Finally! I got somewhere! Once again I have outsmarted that purple tyrant!" She giggled and swayed as she stood.   
  
Raptron looked at her briefly and sighed. "You're drunk."   
  
"Nah. Nothing I can't handle." She stumbled over to the couch and flopped down. "Anyways, I managed to get a little bit of ol' Waspinator's fightin' skills out of his block." She all of the sudden began to giggle. "I remember Hollywood Squares from the Earth Media Archives on the computer... I'll take Waspinator to block!" She burst out laughing.   
  
Raptron groaned and placed the second last circuit board into the weapon. "Go to bed, Blackarachnia."   
  
"No slaggin' way!" she yelled and took a long drink from her ale. "You need any help?"   
  
"I'm fine." Tron began to work on the final circuit board. "Take it easy."   
  
"Suit yourself." Blackarachnia shrugged and lay back on the couch to watch Raptron work.   
  
Raptron picked up the final circuit board and studied it. He rubbed his optics, finding it was becoming increasingly difficult to concentrate. "Energy level must be low," he told himself. He shook his head to remove the cobwebs and then began connecting the sub-circuits.   
  
Finally, after several tense minutes, Raptron finished his task. He frowned at his lack of concentration. This circuit board had been the smallest, but had taken him the longest to complete. He slowly inserted the board into its slot and then sighed as he was finally finished. He bolted on the access panel and turned to show Blackarachnia. "What do you think?"   
  
He got only breathing in response. Blackarachnia had dozed off.   
  
Raptron chuckled and walked over to where Blackarachnia lay on the couch. "Told you that you were drunk." He smiled and picked up the Predacon black widow and carried her towards his sleeping chamber.   
  
Suddenly she woke and looked at Raptron semi-consciously. "Tron?" she began, her words slurred. "I care about you very much too." She smiled and drifted back into unconsciousness.   
  
Raptron nodded slowly at what she had said. He carried her softly in his muscular arms and slowly set her down on the large bed. He smiled a little and pulled the covers over the snoring spider. He walked over to the other side of the bed and hesitated.   
  
"Ah slag, who cares! I'm tired too so she'll have to share." He flopped down on the far side of the bed and went to sleep above the covers.   
  
  
  
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Raptron awoke with a snort and sat up slowly, holding his head. His keen senses immediately caught scent of something in the air, something that he knew he liked, but didn't know why. He looked quickly to his left, but found only a slight depression and the ruffled sheets where Blackarachnia once lay.   
  
"Blackarachnia? Are you still here?" He finally summoned enough strength to stand up. "Something sure smells good around here."   
  
Blackarachnia came from a side room in Raptron's quarters. "That would be my cooking," she said cheerfully, walking into the room and giving Raptron a hug.   
  
Raptron was a little taken back by Blackarachnia's sudden show of affection and more so by the term she just used. "Cooking?" He asked this question with the same tone a young child would use to ask his mother.   
  
"Yeah cooking," she said, walking back towards the side room. "You know. Food?"   
  
"Food?"   
  
Blackarachnia came back with a tray that held various consumables. "Yeah food." She placed the tray on a table and looked at Raptron with a smile. "I made us breakfast!"   
  
"Breakfast?"   
  
Blackarachnia sighed. "Oh just sit down and eat!"   
  
Raptron looked a little embarrassed, but sat down anyway. "I-- I'm afraid I don't know how..."   
  
Blackarachnia burst out laughing. "Are you serious? You're not slagging me?"   
  
Raptron nodded slowly.   
  
Blackarachnia laughed some more. "No wonder everything was exactly as I had left it in the kitchen!"   
  
"Kitchen?"   
  
"That room I was in over there!" she pointed with her pincer.   
  
"Oh. I had thought that was a laboratory or something."   
  
Blackarachnia continued to stare at him in disbelief. "So in all the time you've been here, you have never eaten anything?"   
  
"That is correct. I was beginning to wonder how the rest of you kept your energy levels so high. Do we eat for the same reason as we sleep?"   
  
"Yes. When energon isn't available, we can eat plants and animals to gain the energy we need to function. Some of them can be fairly enjoyable to consume." Blackarachnia took a bite from some fluffy yellowish substance. "These are eggs. Try something."   
  
Raptron nodded and looked around at what lay on the table. At last he saw something that looked appealing to him. He recognized the food item as meat from some animal. He grinned and stabbed at it with his killing claw, skewering several pieces with it.   
  
"Go ahead," said Blackarachnia while chewing. "It's alright."   
  
"Here goes nothing," Raptron said and then placed the whole thing in his mouth. He paused and then looked up at Blackarachnia.   
  
"Now chew," she said and made a chewing motion for demonstration purposes.   
  
Raptron studied Blackarachnia for a few moments and finally began to chew as she did. After a few seconds, he looked up at Blackarachnia once again.   
  
"Now swallow it." She smiled as Raptron complied. "There. Now doesn't that feel better?"   
  
Raptron finally finished swallowing his food and smiled. "That is good. I think I need some more!" He laughed and took a few more bites.   
  
Blackarachnia shook her head. "I still can't believe you functioned as well as you did all this time on... what was it?"   
  
"Thirty-three percent energy," Raptron said, his face stuffed with bread of some kind.   
  
"That's right, thirty-three percent energy." Blackarachnia took another bite from her meal. "How in the Inferno did you defeat Dinobot?"   
  
"Well," began Raptron with a mouthful of food. "My first encounter with Dinobot was at one hundred percent power. My second battle with him, my power level was low and was exhausted quickly. Anything to help this food go down?" He motioned at his throat.   
  
"You mean something to drink. Here." Blackarachnia handed Raptron a glass of orange juice which he guzzled until the glass was empty. "One question. Why didn't you question us about the shortage of energon before?"   
  
"I had assumed that since this was a war, we would be on rations or something. So I had assumed it to be normal." He shrugged and wolfed down some of the eggs Blackarachnia had spoken of earlier.   
  
"Well now you know better." Blackarachnia smiled and sipped her drink, never once breaking her gaze away from Raptron's optics.   
  
"Yeah. Thank you for teaching me these things. It will be nice to get back to one hundred percent energy again." Raptron didn't realize it, but he never took his optics away from hers either.   
  
The two looked at each other for quite some time, until after all the food and drink were consumed.   
  
Finally, Blackarachnia looked away and stood up. "Come on," she began. "It's almost 0800 hours and I want to see that fusion cannon in action before we have to report for duty."   
  
Raptron nodded and stood up as well. Remembering Blackarachnia's show of affection previously, he decided to return it. Before Blackarachnia could walk away, he grabbed her into a tight embrace.   
  
Stunned, Blackarachnia dropped the empty tray to the ground. She quickly found some calm and wrapped her arms around Raptron's broad back. She put her head to his chest and smiled. She could hear his spark pulsating, filling his body with life-- life she created.   
  
Finally, after a few minutes, Raptron broke the silence. "Thank you for breakfast, Blackarachnia. Thank you for teaching me all these wonderful things."   
  
"No," Blackarachnia began, her head still at his chest. "Thank you. Last night was the most fun I have had in a long, long time. I think you are my first real friend."   
  
"Thank you so much. You make this war tolerable for me."   
  
Blackarachnia smiled and looked up into Raptron's optics gazing down at her. Then they both smiled as their heads grew closer together and their lips almost touched.   
  
Just then, Waspinator awoke. "Wazzpinator's head hurtz." He turned to see Raptron and Blackarachnia about to kiss. He giggled and sang off-key. "Raptor-bot and Widow-bot sitting in large organic plant, K-I-Z-Z-I-N-G..."   
  
Raptron growled and released Blackarachnia. He turned around swiftly and delivered a perfect jumping side roundhouse kick to the side of Waspinator's head, knocking him unconscious and cutting the song off in mid-sentence.   
  
"Annoying insect!" yelled Raptron. He turned around to hug Blackarachnia again, but found himself embracing nothing but air. Blackarachnia had gone into the kitchen. "Slag," stated Raptron and let out a heavy sigh.   
  
"We had better take Waspinator back to his quarters on the way out. Power up the fusion cannon. I'll finish cleaning up here." She came from the kitchen and picked up the dishes, never once glancing at Raptron.   
  
Raptron watched Blackarachnia for a few moments and finally went into one of the back rooms.   
  
"Now to find a fully charged power cell," he told himself and looked around at the shelf which held the energy cells. He frowned at all the power cells with energy levels still in the red. Finally he managed to find a power cell, at the back of the shelf, with a power level in the green.   
  
Blackarachnia was just putting the final touches on Waspinator when Raptron came back into the main room.   
  
Raptron walked across the room and inserted the energon cartridge into the fusion cannon. He powered it up to full and nodded in approval as the cannon began to glow with power.   
  
Blackarachnia also grinned when she saw the cannon's power. She grabbed a tool and gave one last adjustment to Waspinator's circuitry and closed up the access panel.   
  
"Ready to rock and roll, Tron?" She smiled and hefted Waspinator onto her shoulders.   
  
Raptron chuckled. "I'm always ready to rock and roll!" He loaded the fusion cannon, which fit snugly onto his arm, reaching up to the elbow.   
  
"Well now here is your chance to prove it." She winked and led the way into the dark, cold corridor.  
  
  
  
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After stopping briefly to drop off Waspinator into his quarters, Raptron and Blackarachnia left the Predacon base. The sun had risen a couple of hours ago and the air was still chilly and damp.   
  
Blackarachnia shivered at the temperature change from inside the Predacon base to outside it. "Come on, Tron. We have a little under three hours left before we have to report. I know a little place we can..."   
  
"No, Blackarachnia, I know a better place I can take us to. Hop on." He smiled and held out his arms for Blackarachnia, who climbed into them. "Hold on now." He engaged his jets and took off as quietly as he could.   
  
Blackarachnia sighed and held on as tight as she could. She was a little surprised at the feeling of being in the air. Ever since they left the ground, Raptron had been steadily accelerating and climbing in altitude. Blackarachnia was still pinned to Raptron's chest even as they broke through the clouds and went above.   
  
The roar of the wind was much too loud for them to speak, so Raptron activated his internal communications system. He looked at Blackarachnia and tapped his head, signaling her to do the same. "We will be arriving at the test area in about ten minutes, present speed."   
  
"What speed are we going at anyways?" Blackarachnia looked down upon the blanket of white clouds that lay beneath them.   
  
Raptron paused to calculate the data. "We are traveling at about mach 5.142 and are at 45,072 feet."   
  
"You can go that fast? How?"   
  
Raptron thought for a moment. "I will not even attempt to look into the physics of it, but I can go even faster if you like."   
  
"You... You can!?"   
  
"Yep! Here we go!" A blast of fire came from Raptron's jetpack and once again, Blackarachnia was pinned to Raptron's chest from the acceleration.   
  
The roar of the wind was now deafening and Raptron had to climb to 80,000 feet to avoid getting ripped apart by the friction of the wind hitting him.   
  
Blackarachnia could barely move from the g-forces. "How fast are we going now?"   
  
Raptron grinned at the speed they were traveling. "We are now going mach 7.2." He looked at the half-frightened spider and chuckled. "Oh come on! What could go wrong?"   
  
Just then, Raptron's jetpack sputtered and failed shortly after.   
  
Blackarachnia sighed. "You just had to say that, didn't you?"   
  
Raptron looked worried. He held onto Blackarachnia as tight as he could as they began to plummet to the ground below.   
  
Blackarachnia clamped onto Raptron's arm as they now went into a vertical dive, falling at terminal velocity. "Tron... Tron.... TRON! Tron, get that jetpack restarted!"   
  
"I'm trying!" Raptron growled as they fell through the wall of clouds. The jetpack spouted smoke from the jet nozzles as the constant attempts to restart failed. "Slagging pieces of scrap! Work!"   
  
"Tron," Blackarachnia began while seeing her doom racing towards her. "Flight would be really nice right about now."   
  
"I'm working on it! There's been a massive power drain from my flight engines." He growled softly. "Transferring power from weapons to jetpack to compensate." He once again tried to start the engines.   
  
"Tron? Ground." Blackarachnia pointed down.   
  
"I can see that!" He yelled and went back to attempting to start his engines.   
  
The Predacon pair dropped below 2000 feet and Raptron became more frantic.   
  
"Start you slagging piece of shi--" Finally his jets rumbled to life and a great jet of flame spouted out from the nozzles.   
  
Raptron immediately turned his body and pointed his jets at the ground, but the deceleration was slow. "Slag!" Raptron cursed out loud. "We're not going to be able to slow down enough!"   
  
"So in other words, we're going to crash." Blackarachnia sighed.   
  
"Yep." Raptron did likewise. "Pretty much."   
  
"Oh good." Blackarachnia said sarcastically. "I haven't been in a good wreck in a long time. I had missed it so much."   
  
The pair fell below thirty feet and just before they hit, Raptron flipped over and landed back first. He took the full brunt of the impact.   
  
Blackarachnia was thrown from Raptron's arms and tumbled along the ground before coming to a rest in some grass. It took her a few minutes to regain her senses and she slowly peered over to the crash site. Raptron lay there slowly moving, smoke rising from his battered body.   
  
"Slag." Blackarachnia slowly got to her feet and hobbled over to Raptron's side. "Tron? You alright?"   
  
Raptron glared at her weakly. "Yes, Blackarachnia. I'm perfectly fine. I just love to crash into the ground from 80,000 feet. It's a hobby of mine in fact."   
  
"Oh shut up!" Blackarachnia laughed and reached into her subspace compartment. She smiled and retrieved an energon cube. "I took this from the cargo hold. There's quite a bit in there, but I didn't want to arouse suspicion." She winked and opened Raptron's power hatch where she placed the energon cube.   
  
Raptron's body twitched as the power surged through him. He looked at Blackarachnia through brightly glowing optics. "Thank you. Power at 100% again." He smiled and Blackarachnia helped him up to his feet gingerly. He almost fell when he put weight onto his right leg. He looked down and saw just how mangled his legs were.   
  
Blackarachnia wrapped her arm around Raptron's back to steady him. "Easy there. Can you stand?"   
  
"I'll try." Raptron let go of Blackarachnia and tried to walk. He roared in pain and collapsed to the ground again holding his leg.   
  
"Slag!" Blackarachnia swiftly knelt beside Raptron and studied his leg. "The internal structure beam inside your leg has been broken."   
  
"Can you fix it?" Raptron reached into his subspace compartment to check on the fusion cannon.   
  
"I can patch it up, but you won't be able to walk on it very well at all." She felt along Raptron's leg, seeing just how bad it was.   
  
"What do you mean? What about the test?" He tried to get up, but was restrained by Blackarachnia.   
  
"Easy, Tron! Let me help you here." She looked around and found a log. "I can snap your structure joints back into place. Then I'll have to split your leg to keep it in place. You won't be able to put very much strain on that leg though. Walking will be difficult enough."   
  
"Can I use the fusion cannon?" Raptron brought it out in front of him and began to power it up.   
  
"Not a chance. The kickback would put far too much pressure on you injured leg." She used Raptron's saber to begin slicing planks from the log.   
  
"But what about the tests? I need to..."   
  
"I can test the weapon just fine. You are in no condition to fire that." She made some holes in the tops and bottoms of the wooden planks.   
  
"But the power is..."   
  
"The power is nothing more than what I can handle." Blackarachnia's face took a serious and stern look as she worked on her makeshift splint.   
  
Raptron sighed deeply and lay back. He knew he had no chance of winning this argument. He was in no position to win anything right now. Right now his thoughts were on the sheer power of the fusion cannon and the safety of the lethally beautiful female that would wield its fury.   
  
"Don't worry about your crummy little cannon, Tron. I know my fair share about weaponry and how to use them. Now lay still." She picked several handfuls of long grass.   
  
Raptron suddenly sat up. "Crummy!? I worked on that using all of my spare time!"   
  
"Just lie back and shut up!" Blackarachnia pushed him against the ground again. She wrapped the planks around his leg and fastened them together using the long grass she had woven into a basic rope. After she was certain it was on his leg tight, she sat back and leaned against a fallen log.   
  
Raptron grunted as he sat up slowly. He reached down to his leg and inspected what Blackarachnia had done. "This is a good splint. Are you a medic or something too?"   
  
Blackarachnia couldn't help but laugh. "No, I'm not a medic. To tell you the truth, I don't know how I could do what I just did. I just acted off blind instincts. I can't really explain it."   
  
Raptron shrugged too. "Well, I think we should get to testing that fusion cannon so we can get back to base in time to report." He got out a data pad and brought up some data.   
  
Blackarachnia sighed and slowly nodded. She got to her feet and, despite great difficulty, hoisted the massive fusion cannon off from the ground. She slipped it carefully onto her slender arm and then looked to Raptron for instructions.   
  
Raptron typed something into the data pad and smiled. "Excellent. All is ready for the test. Aim at that large boulder there. That will be your test target."   
  
Blackarachnia nodded and turned to face the boulder Raptron spoke of. She armed the fusion cannon to full power and began to prepare herself.   
  
Raptron grinned as he saw the fusion cannon, now pulsing with energy, on the arm of Blackarachnia. He looked once again at the map of the area displayed on the data pad. The map was from 20th century Earth and Raptron marveled at how much it changed. The mountains in the distance had gotten bigger, some of them turning into volcanoes. And one of the mountains was not on the map at all.   
  
"I'm ready." Blackarachnia extended her arm and planted her left foot firmly onto the ground for support.   
  
"You may fire when ready." Raptron typed some more information into the data pad and then watched with great anticipation.   
  
Blackarachnia sighed and gripped the trigger handle. "Here goes nothing." She closed her optics and squeezed the trigger firing off the tremendous blast.   
  
The sheer force of the fusion blast knocked Blackarachnia flying through the air and sent the barrel upwards causing the blast to miss. The female spider landed harshly on her back.   
  
Raptron chuckled and crawled over to where Blackarachnia lay stunned and looking at the sky. "You missed." He grinned.   
  
"Go slag yourself." She sat up and smacked Raptron right between the optics with the fusion cannon.   
  
Raptron laughed and turned to look at the fusion cannon blast still streaking off course. "All well. I guess we'll have to wait for another day to determine the cannon's power."   
  
Suddenly, a blinding light engulfed the area and a massive explosion was heard. Raptron and Blackarachnia both had to shield their optics to prevent them from overloading.   
  
When the light subsided, Raptron blinked and looked to the source of the chaos they just witnessed. "The mountain...!"   
  
Blackarachnia gasped. "I-- It's gone! But how?"   
  
Raptron quickly looked at the 20th century map of the area they were in now. "So that's where that mountain went." He laughed and once again looked in awe at the plume of smoke rising from the pile of rubble that had once been a mighty mountain.   
  
Blackarachnia stumbled up to her feet. "The power! The raw power of it!" She was almost drooling at the site of the destruction.   
  
Raptron grinned and used his jets to float along the ground so as not to use his broken leg. He picked up the still powered fusion cannon and took the energon cube out form the chamber. "And I know just where to aim this power."   
  
Blackarachnia grinned slyly. "So do I, Tron. So do I."   
  
Raptron hovered over towards Blackarachnia and picked her and the fusion cannon up in his arms. "Come on. We should get back to the Darkside in time to make it look as if we never left.   
  
"Don't worry," Blackarachnia said and wrapped her arms around Raptron's neck. "We shouldn't have any problem sneaking in."   
  
Raptron smiled. "That's good. I wouldn't want to have to explain this to Megatron. I don't want him knowing about my fusion cannon."   
  
Blackarachnia laughed as they took to the air and began to accelerate. "Don't worry, Tron, I don't want him to know either. I'll make sure we get in just fine."   
  
"Thanks, Blackarachnia. Thanks for testing the fusion cannon." Raptron smiled, accelerated to mach five and climbed above the clouds.  
  
  
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Megatron paced back and forth in his luxurious commander's quarters. He rubbed his tired optics and sat on the arm of the couch. He hadn't slept a wink all night. He was worried about something. What, he couldn't put his finger on. But he was legitimately concerned about something. That's why he ordered Scorponok to guard the door. Ironic that Megatron's scorpion friend slept in a chair near the door, while it was Megatron himself on patrol.   
  
Megatron opened the armored shutter that covered the small window in his quarters. "Dawn. At last. Finally it is time for my ascension into greatness! History shall be written again and Cybertron itself will learn to fear the name of Megatron! Cybertron is my world now. The future is my time. Scorponok, wake up!" He kicked the chair Scorponok slept on and woke him up abruptly.   
  
The Predacon second-in-command snapped to attention. "Yes, Megatron?"   
  
Megatron grinned. "It is time, Scorponok. It is time at last, yessss." He grabbed his tail cannon and armed it. "Computer, time!"   
  
The female Predacon computer chimed in over Megatron's com speakers. "Current time is 10:12:43."   
  
Megatron opened the door to his chambers and walked out into the corridor, followed closely by Scorponok. "Excellent. All is going according to plan."  
  
  
  
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Raptron landed gingerly outside the Darkside and followed Blackarachnia in and around the motion sensors that were mounted near the entrances.   
  
"This way, Tron. We have to walk through the command center. It'll be alright, nobody should be up." Blackarachnia led the way through one of the corridors.   
  
Raptron looked around nervously. "Should. That's the key word, isn't it?"   
  
"Shut up! I know what I'm doing. It's not like this is the first time or anything." Blackarachnia stepped onto the command deck and heard Megatron's voice getting nearer. "Quick! Act like you're doing something!"   
  
Megatron stopped in mid-sentence as he saw Blackarachnia at one of the computer terminals and Raptron limping towards one of the CR tanks. "What is going on here!?"   
  
"Good morning, Megatron!" Raptron still hobbled towards the repair station on the command deck. "We woke up early today and decided to get some extra work in."   
  
Megatron cocked his head to the side and motioned at Raptron. "What happened to your leg?"   
  
Raptron finally reached the edge of the catwalk that led to the CR tank. "I injured it in the training simulator. I had the difficulty level too high, I suppose. I was just on my way to the vacant CR tank."   
  
"There's no time for that now. We must go investigate that alien signal and take whatever powers it offers." Megatron sat in his throne to await the arrival of the other Predacons.   
  
Raptron leaned against the edge of the CR tank. "Megatron, my leg needs repair. I cannot function at 100% without the repairs."   
  
Megatron glared down upon Raptron. "Blackarachnia will make the repairs you seek. There is equipment in the sickbay."   
  
Raptron growled. "But, sir, I need--"   
  
"That is an order!" Megatron slammed his fist down on the arm of his throne.   
  
Raptron glared at his commander. "Yes, sir. Come on, Blackarachnia." He stormed off down the corridor that led to the sickbay.   
  
Blackarachnia took a moment to glare at the grinning Megatron before running ahead of the ailing Raptron to hold the sickbay door open for him.   
  
Raptron nodded a `thank you' to Blackarachnia as he limped by her and into the sickbay. He lay face up on the repair table and stared at the ceiling silently.   
  
Blackarachnia sighed and grabbed a few instruments from a cabinet on the back wall. She sat down on a small, wheeled chair and rolled over to where Raptron lay. The used a small knife to cut off the field splint she made earlier in the day.   
  
Raptron gasped a little when the splint was taken off. The pressure on his leg was released and his internal leg beam separated again.   
  
Blackarachnia engaged a laser cutter and slowly cut open Raptron's leg along the calf 'muscle'. She then grabbed a separator to pry open the incision so she could work easier.   
  
Surprisingly, Raptron did not let out even one yelp of pain. He just dug his taloned fingers into the padded table.   
  
Blackarachnia braved the mech-fluid that leaked from the wound and reached her pincer inside to feel for the leg beam. She quickly located the break and set the beam back together using her own pincer as a clamp. "This will hurt a bit, Tron." She grabbed another laser tool, this one designed to mend, and used it on the fracture.   
  
Raptron winced and let out a muffled yelp as the laser painfully mended the broken leg beam. "How... how much longer... is this... going to take?"   
  
"I'm almost done, Tron." Blackarachnia mended the final few centimeters and checked over what she had done to check for errors. Satisfied, she let loose the separator and used the mender to sew up the wound leaving a large scar.   
  
Raptron sat up slowly and rubbed his aching lower leg. He frowned at the large scar visible and sighed. "How will this affect my combat ability?   
  
Blackarachnia began to put her tools away. "You will be at about 90% combat efficient on the ground. The leg is healed, but it's not as good as a CR tank would do."   
  
Raptron nodded and slowly stood up. "Thank you, Blackarachnia."   
  
Blackarachnia closed the cabinet and smiled. "Don't mention it, Tron. Come on, we'd better get back to the bridge."   
  
  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
  
  
When Raptron and Blackarachnia walked back onto the Predacon command center, the other Predacons were all assembled.   
  
Megatron grinned with anticipation. "Good, you're all here now. As you all know, you have been assembled here today to go on a mission of great importance to the Predacon cause. Raptron will lead you up to grid Tau-7 where you shall dig underground to capture the source of the alien signal that was detected yesterday. Once retrieved you will bring it back to me. Raptron is in charge of this operation, yessss. That reminds me of something else. I have promoted Raptron to second officer here on the Darkside." He looked at the raptor and smiled. "What do you say to that?"   
  
Raptron bowed his head slightly. "It is an unexpected honor, but I shall hand this honor over to Blackarachnia. She deserves it so much more than I do. She is the perfect choice and not to see that would be foolish."   
  
Megatron raged inside and he glared coldly at Raptron. He had been put in a tight spot now. If he went against Raptron's wishes, his troops would consider him weak. "So be it!" He spun angrily to face the grinning widow. "Blackarachnia, you are promoted to second officer and are given the rank of Lieutenant Commander that comes with it."   
  
Blackarachnia smiled again. "Thank you, Megatron. You have made a wise choice."   
  
"Yes, I'm sure I have." Megatron spun to his troops again. "So get moving all of you! The glory days of the Predacons will soon come! In cargo bay C there is a high-powered digging machine. The rest of our energon supply has gone into powering it. Have no fear, however. Once this alien weapon or artifact is recovered, we shall have all power we will ever need!"   
  
Terrorsaur squawked up from the back of the pack of Predacons. "What about our energy? How will we get enough now?"   
  
Megatron slammed his fist down in frustration. "Idiot! When this alien artifact is recovered we won't need energon! We shall use it's power to leave this worthless ball of rock! Then we can leave the Maximals to perish here while we go back to Cybertron to rule and conquer!"   
  
Blackarachnia crossed her arms and leaned against one of the computer terminals in the rear of the command center. "Lunatic." She chuckled to herself, but made sure no one else heard her.   
  
"This is a large gamble, Megatron. I hope you've thought this through." Raptron looked a little skeptically at his commander.   
  
"Well, Raptron, I've always been the gambling type. I have looked into this as far as I need to be certain that this signal is an alien one. Now go!" Megatron pointed towards the exit hatch.   
  
Raptron nodded and addressed his troops. "Okay, now two of you will go retrieve the digging machine--"   
  
"Not so fast, Tron." Blackarachnia also walked to where Raptron was making his speech. "We're not in Grid Tau-7 yet. I am the ranking officer of this group until then."   
  
Raptron snapped to attention and saluted. "Of course, ma'am! Please forgive me, I didn't mean to get out of line."   
  
Blackarachnia stood toe-to-toe with Raptron. "You are forgiven this time, raptor. However, another outburst like that will land you a trip to the brig. Is that clear?"   
  
"Yes, ma'am. Perfectly clear." Raptron saluted and joined the rest of the Predacons.   
  
"Now," began the female spider. "Waspinator and Terrorsaur will go to cargo bay C and carry the digging machine. Raptron will carry me there. Tarantulas and Rampage will follow on the ground."   
  
"Hmmph!" Tarantulas grumbled and transformed to motorcycle mode. "Now I have to take orders from this witch! This situation is getting worse all the time." He sped off down the corridor that led to the exit.   
  
Terrorsaur and Waspinator walked down another corridor that led to cargo bay C to get the digging machine.   
  
Raptron turned to face Megatron again. "What about Scorponok and Inferno? Will they not be joining us?"   
  
Megatron nodded. "That is correct. They will remain here. I have other tasks for them to do, yessss."   
  
"Very well, Megatron." Raptron picked up Blackarachnia in his arms. "We shall bring back whatever we find." He opened the roof hatch and took to the air.   
  
Rampage transformed to tank mode and stopped by Megatron. "There better be something up there, Megatron. I'll be very annoyed if we go all the way up there for nothing!"   
  
Megatron shook his head. "My dear Rampage, your lack of faith disturbs me. All will go as I have foreseen it, you'll see."   
  
"Yes, I guess we shall see, won't we?" Rampage sneered and rumbled by his leader and into the corridor where he exited the Darkside.   
  
Raptron and Blackarachnia were already waiting there when Rampage thundered up to them.   
  
"Where are those two incompetent flyers? They only have to pick up one digging machine!" Raptron grumbled and sat down on a smooth rock that was nearby. He almost lost consciousness when Blackarachnia sat closely beside him.   
  
"Well, Tron, you know those two. They probably got lost." She chuckled and put her pincer on Raptron's leg causing him to jump and tip sideways off of the rock.   
  
Rampage cackled. "Smooth move, raptor! And you are going to lead us, huh? May the pit help us."   
  
"Shut up!" Raptron yelled in a booming voice. He stood up quickly and dusted himself off. He looked at Blackarachnia who had an embarrassed look on her face. He sat down beside her again, but she stood up and walked over by Rampage. Raptron narrowed his optics and growled softly.   
  
"We got it!" Terrorsaur declared from above. He and Waspinator each were carrying half of a large device.   
  
"It's about slagging time! Everyone follow my lead and go as fast as you can!" Raptron picked up Blackarachnia rather roughly and took off at full blast.   
  
Terrorsaur squawked and flapped his leathery wings as fast as he could urging Waspinator to hurry up as well.   
  
Rampage grumbled and drove off after the other Predacons at his top speed.  
  
  
  
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Tarantulas, who had gone ahead, reached the point where the jamming station was located to block the alien signal from the Maximals. He grinned and drew his saw blade weapon. With one slice, he cut the tower in half, disabling it and sending it crashing to the ground.   
  
"Oops!" He cackled and went back to motorcycle mode. "How clumsy of me." He laughed louder and sped off towards the signal again.  
  
  
  
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The Axalon command center was bustling with activity as Cheetor ambled to his station and sat down.   
  
"Heya, kid, nice of you to join us." Rattrap remarked as he studied something on the screen.   
  
"I didn't hear my alarm, alright!?" Cheetor snapped back.   
  
"Whoa! Who poured slag on your energon this morning? You know Big Banana is gonna squash ya, right?" Rattrap chuckled and smirked at the young bot.   
  
Cheetor just grumbled and tried to determine what all the commotion was about. He had just turned on his computer terminal when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Optimus glaring down at him.   
  
Primal sighed heavily. "Cheetor, you are an hour late for duty again! What's your excuse this time?"   
  
Rattrap piped up from the next terminal. "He, uh, didn't hear the alarm. Heh." He chuckled and continued to work.   
  
Optimus grumbled. "This is the third time this week! You had better get your act together or I'll confine you to quarters! Understand?"   
  
Cheetor cowered in his chair. "Understood, Bigbot. It won't happen again."   
  
Optimus nodded. "Good. Now see if you can get some scientific readings on grid Tau-7. We're detecting an odd signal."   
  
Cheetor nodded and worked franticly. He knew he'd gotten off easy.   
  
So did Dinobot. "Bah! You are too lenient with the child, Optimus! You should send him to the brig for a week. That would straighten him out immediately! Not this slapping on the wrist. You must lay down the law!"   
  
Optimus gave a stern look towards Dinobot. "I'll handle this in my own way, Dinobot."   
  
Cheetor also gave a cold glare at the Maximal raptor. "And I'm not a kid."   
  
Dinobot smirked. "If you're not a child, then I suggest you stop acting like one." He turned his chair around and continued working at his terminal.   
  
Cheetor filled with rage, but knew better than to anger Dinobot. He whirled his chair around quickly and began to work.   
  
Optimus walked over to where Rhinox was gazing at the computer readings. "What do you make of it, Rhinox?"   
  
Rhinox sighed heavily. "Well, it's no signature I've ever seen before, that's for sure."   
  
Optimus rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Alien?"   
  
"Maybe." Rhinox brought up a map of the area. "It might also be a deposit of energon buried deep within the crust. That would warp the signature somewhat. But I do know one thing, the Preds are going to reach it first." He pointed to several red blips on the screen.   
  
"Slag." Optimus turned to the communicator. "Axalon to all scouts. Return to base immediately at your maximum speed. We're going into battle."   
  
Dinobot rose from his chair excitedly. "At last! We are the one going into action! What is the plan, Optimus?"   
  
Optimus checked the map one last time. "Tigatron and Cheetor will remain here and guard the base. The rest will come with me and attack."   
  
"Why don't I get to come?" Cheetor stood up and confronted his leader.   
  
"You've shown yourself too irresponsible to come along on an important mission such as this. You'll stay back and guard the base." Optimus armed his weaponry and powered up his jetpack.   
  
Cheetor again gave his leader an ugly look and flopped down on his chair. He crossed his arms and sat there sulking.   
  
The other Maximals had also armed their weapons just as Airazor and Night Flyer landed outside the Axalon.   
  
Optimus turned to Cheetor. "You're responsible for the ship until Tigatron gets here. Then he is in command and you'll follow his orders. Do I make myself clear?"   
  
The young cheetah grumbled. "Yeah."   
  
The Maximal commander nodded. "Good. I hate to do this, Cheetor, but you leave me no choice." He turned to his troops. "Alright, let's move out."   
  
The Maximals took their turns going down on the lift.   
  
Night Flyer leaned towards Airazor slightly. "I wonder what's going on."   
  
Airazor shrugged. "Only Primus knows. Optimus does seem to be reacting rather strongly though. We haven't been on alert with this much force since the planet buster came here. I hope it's not another alien attack."   
  
Night Flyer grinned. "If it is, I welcome it! I'll send them back to where they came from with a limp!"   
  
"And I'd be right there to help you." Airazor laughed, but then winced in pain. The wound on her chest throbbed every so often. The gash left by Raptron in the previous battle left a large scar that couldn't be fully repaired even with a CR chamber. What made things even worse was that the scar went right through her left falcon eye, making her half blind in beast mode.   
  
Night Flyer's smile vanished and he looked at her, concerned. "Are you alright?"   
  
Airazor gave a weak smile. "I'll be fine, thanks. It just hurts a little that's all."   
  
Night Flyer growled. "I'll get revenge on him for that! I promise you!"   
  
Airazor sighed and shrugged to herself. "Not if I get him first."   
  
Finally Optimus stepped off of the lift and addressed the group. "The Predacons somehow detected the strange signal before we did and are almost there already. It may be alien and it may be not, but we must stop them from getting whatever it is. So we go into battle. I only ask that you fight hard and give it your all. Follow my lead." He engaged his prime jets and took off into the mid-day sky.   
  
Airazor gave a wink to Night Flyer and took off after her leader. Night Flyer smiled and followed her. Rattrap, Dinobot, and Rhinox followed on land.  
  
  
  
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Raptron landed softly on the rough rocky terrain and let Blackarachnia out of his grasp. "This is the spot. Now we dig." He looked back and saw Terrorsaur and Waspinator laboring with the digging machine.   
  
Terrorsaur landed and finally let off his load. "At last I am rid of that burden!"   
  
Raptron inspected the machine closely for the first time. "How is this supposed to dig?"   
  
Blackarachnia now looked over it closely. "It can't. This isn't a digging machine! It's a shielded case to store the supposed alien artifact no doubt."   
  
Raptron hissed angrily. "He tricked us!"   
  
"No slag, Sherlock. So now what?" Blackarachnia sat on a stone.   
  
Raptron sighed and retrieved some shovels and pick axes from subspace. "We do the digging I guess."   
  
Terrorsaur squawked in anger. "Bah! If Megatron wants this thing so badly, he can come dig it up himself!"   
  
Raptron grabbed Terrorsaur by the throat and lifted him from the rocky ground. "We were given a task and we shall do it! I am in command here and that is an order. Got it?"   
  
"Got it!" Terrorsaur was dropped to the ground forcefully. He scrambled to his puny pterodactyl legs and transformed to robot mode.   
  
Tarantulas entered the area soon after and also went to robot mode. He looked over the shielded case. "So I see the great Megatron has screwed us once again! Like I knew he would."   
  
Raptron handed Tarantulas a shovel. "Dig."   
  
Tarantulas melodramatically bowed. "Of course, commander." He chuckled softly and began chipping at the rock.   
  
Raptron and Blackarachnia used the pick axes and chipped the rock away gradually. Using their robot strength, they were soon two meters under the rock where sand and gravel lay.   
  
Waspinator and Terrorsaur were assigned to carry the debris out from the quarry.   
  
The wasp-bot chuckled. "At least gravel izz easier to carry for Wazzpinator!"   
  
Terrorsaur sneered. "Hmmph! This still sucks!"   
  
Raptron grunted under the strain of shoveling the heavy heaps of rock chips and sand. The load was not heavy, but after 5 hours of constant work, it began to take its toll. "Alright, everybody, let's take a breather." He grabbed Blackarachnia with one hand and Tarantulas with the other and flew out of the large hole.   
  
Most of the Predacons sat around in a circle near the quarry where Raptron handed out some small shards of energon. That was the only thing left now, Megatron had used up the cubes on the shielded case.   
  
Blackarachnia sighed happily as she felt the energy flow through her body. "It may not be much, but it still feels good."   
  
"You can say that again!" Terrorsaur hadn't even bothered to join the others at the camp. He just tipped over onto his back where he still lay despite the new energy he received.   
  
Raptron smiled as he sat beside Blackarachnia. "We'll take a few more minutes then get back at it."   
  
Blackarachnia sighed and nodded. "I hope we reach this stupid signal soon. I'm getting tired of digging aimlessly for that tyrant." She cautiously put her pincer near Raptron's hand and jumped a little when he held it.   
  
The Predacon raptor smiled softly as he looked into the optics of Blackarachnia. She was so beautiful, so deadly, and so intelligent. He could feel her power when he hugged her, carried her in flight, or just held her hand. He wished he could do so much more with her. He felt some sort of a strong magnetic force pulling him to her, but he had to resist it. A rumbling in the distance interrupted his thoughts.   
  
"Predacons, battle ready!" Raptron ordered and drew his mega-missile launcher, aiming it at the source of the noise. His spark began to pulsate a little faster and his finger tensed around the trigger.   
  
After a few moments, the source of the noise showed itself as a massive tank rumbled up the rocky slope and near the camp.   
  
Raptron sighed and put his missile launcher away. "Oh, it's only Rampage. All Predacons stand down."   
  
Rampage transformed to robot mode. "Only!? I'll rip out your spark and feed on it for a remark like that!"   
  
Raptron smiled. "Do I have to call Megatron and ask him to change your tone for you?"   
  
Rampage grumbled, but silenced himself. "Well, what are we doing here then?"   
  
Tarantulas grinned sarcastically and tossed Rampage a pickaxe. "Digging! Aren't you just so happy about that?"   
  
Rampage threw the axe to the ground. "Bah! What happened to that digging machine?"   
  
Raptron handed the crab-bot the case. "It turns out it's just a shielded carrying case for whatever we find. It's useless except for stuffing Waspinator in it or something."   
  
Rampage grinned. "Can I?"   
  
"No!" Raptron picked up his shovel again. "Now let's back at it. We'll need you digging, Rampage."   
  
Rampage growled. "Very well, but I need no puny working tools!" He transformed to crab mode and leapt to the bottom of the quarry. He opened his large claws and used them to scoop huge mounds of gravel away.   
  
Raptron turned to Blackarachnia and handed her his missile launcher. "He's faster at digging than all of us combined. I'll help Waspinator and Terrorsaur carry the debris out from the quarry. You and Tarantulas will cover us."   
  
"You got it, Tron." She smiled as he jumped into the quarry to collect his load of debris. She loaded the missile launcher and sat on a rock near the quarry to watch over the operation.   
  
An hour had passed when Raptron dumped his fifteenth load of debris onto the pile that lay a few meters away from the quarry. "I don't get it! We're twelve meters down and we still haven't found whatever it is yet!"   
  
Suddenly a bright blue light emanated from the quarry. Waspinator and Terrorsaur flew into the air as fast as they could to get away from the source of the light. Rampage came crawling out of the hole soon after.   
  
"What happened? Did you find the source of the signal?" Raptron ran up to the crab-bot for an answer.   
  
Rampage growled. "We found it alright! It's nothing but a large deposit of unstable energon crystals! I'm lucky I didn't detonate it when I was digging! So this has proved to be no more than another pointless task!"   
  
Raptron clenched his fist. "And this one used up all our energon, too. At least we didn't get any interference from--"   
  
"Primal!" Tarantulas pointed at the distant specks in the sky.   
  
"Primal." Raptron sighed and took his missile launcher back from Blackarachnia. "All Predacons prepare for battle!"   
  
Blackarachnia walked up and stood beside Raptron. She waited until Optimus got a little closer. "What say we give Optimus the welcome he deserves. All fire on the Maximals!"   
  
Raptron grinned and drew both of his mega-missile launchers to fire up into the Maximal flight formation causing them the separate apart. Gunfire also came from behind some boulders.   
  
Raptron warmed up his jets. "The Maximals also have ground troops! Take them out!" He took directly after Optimus Primal, firing at him constantly.   
  
Airazor turned to fire on Raptron, but was almost hit by Waspinator. "I'll deal with you first." She flew directly at the wasp-bot, firing her wrist missiles.   
  
Night Flyer too saw an opportunity to hit Raptron, but ran into Rampage instead.   
  
The others paired off into their own battles. Dinobot and Blackarachnia engaged in a heavy and brutal melee combat, Rhinox took potshots at the evading Terrorsaur and Rattrap had his hands full with the larger Tarantulas.   
  
"You shouldn't have come here, Primal! Now you terminate!" Raptron laughed as he still fired upon the Maximal commander.   
  
"Not if I can help it, Predacon!" Optimus did a quick 180 and returned fire using his forearm cannons.   
  
Raptron saw the blasts heading for him in the nick of time banked away from the barrage. He engaged his afterburners and slammed into Optimus, tackling him to the ground with force. He let Primal take the force of the impact as he flipped off and landed on his feet. He turned and his optics went wide as he saw the Maximal commander struggling to his feet.   
  
Optimus grunted as he got up. "I... won't... let you... get the source of the signal!"   
  
Raptron smirked. "I got to hand it to you, Primal. You've got courage. But you must learn there is a fine line between bravery and not knowing when to quit."   
  
Optimus drew his ninja-style sword. "Yield or be destroyed, Predacon!"   
  
Raptron cocked his head to the side as the battle raged around him. "I never yield! You're as stubborn as Megatron."   
  
Optimus narrowed his optics and snarled. "I'm not pathetic like him!"   
  
Raptron grinned again and drew his saber. "No, you're pathetic in your own way!" He laughed and charged the wounded Maximal commander.   
  
Optimus planted his feet firmly on the ground and brought his sword up to parry the swipe from Raptron's saber. Raptron quickly knocked the sword up and spun around, landing a back kick right in Optimus' chest, knocking him back.   
  
Raptron paused his assault for a moment. "Leave this place, Primal! Save yourself the pain and suffering!"   
  
Optimus regained his battle stance. "I'll never let you win, Predacon. You'll steal no more alien artifacts today!"   
  
Raptron snorted and took a battle stance of his own. "Your alien artifact is nothing but a deposit of unstable energon, Primal. You were fooled just as I was. Not that it matters though, the Predacons shall prevail even without an alien weapon."   
  
"I won't let you!!" Optimus rushed Raptron this time swinging down with his sword.   
  
Raptron grinned as he saw an opening for attack. He hit Optimus' sword to the side and met the charging Maximal with a knee to the stomach area followed by a quick palm strike to the face.   
  
Optimus stumbled back, leaking mech fluid from the side of his mouth. He stood there, breathing heavily, trying to figure his opponent out. The unnamed Predacon stood there, saber at the ready, looking back at him. At last, Optimus formulated a plan.   
  
"I don't have all day, Primal! I'm a busy bot you know! I have places to go and things to kill." Raptron grinned arrogantly at the Maximal gorilla.   
  
Optimus returned the smirk. "Here I come." He charged Raptron and feigned and overhead sword swipe. As he anticipated, Raptron went to block leaving his body exposed. Optimus roared with power as he drove his fist into the gut of the Predacon raptor.   
  
Raptron's optics went wide as mech fluid dripped from his mouth. He quickly forgot the pain and dug his taloned fingers into Optimus' arm. "Now you've made me angry!" He hit the Maximal commander in the head with two back elbow shots before breaking his arm with another solid strike.   
  
Optimus freed himself from Raptron's clutches, retreated a few steps, and cradled his broken arm.   
  
That was the opening Raptron was looking for to end it.   
  
He swiped with his saber three quick times. Once across the stomach, once to sever Optimus' good arm, and the final time up the chest.   
  
"Augh!" Yelled Optimus as the shockwaves flowed through his body, knocking him offline.   
  
Raptron spit a mouthful of mech fluid onto the downed Optimus. "Fool. You cannot defeat the likes of me." He laughed to himself and turned to check on how the rest of his troops were doing in the battle.   
  
Waspinator was in an aerial melee fight with Airazor and was surprisingly blocking many of the attacks Airazor threw at him.   
  
"Thanks to raptor-bot, Wazzpinator izz zupreme fighting machine!" He flipped over, catching Airazor under the chin with a quick kick.   
  
A roar from the surface swayed Raptron's attention as Dinobot tried to land a punch on the dodging Blackarachnia.   
  
"Stand still, female!" Dinobot snarled and continued his assault. "Make it easy on yourself!"   
  
Blackarachnia just laughed and landed a few quick kicks on her much larger opponent.   
  
Terrorsaur flew erratically as he attempted to dodge the constant barrage of bullets that Rhinox dished out. Eventually Terrorsaur got off a few should cannon blasts that caused Rhinox to dive for cover.   
  
Night Flyer stood toe-to-toe with Rampage, both of them in freestyle wrestling type stances. After circling for a while, they finally charged and grappled. Surprisingly, Night Flyer was holding his own albeit just barely.   
  
Tarantulas cackled as he bombarded Rattrap with cluster missiles. "This is too easy! I need a new lab rat!"   
  
"Keep laughin', ya oversized bug! No one captures this rat!" Rattrap ran and strafed Tarantulas causing him to roll behind a boulder.   
  
Raptron mused over the battle. "We seem to be doing quite well indeed. Primal lays at my feet, what could be better?" Just then, Waspinator slammed into the ground just in front of the Predacon raptor. He heard the sound of somebody landing and turned to see Airazor glaring at him coldly.   
  
Raptron paced in front of Airazor and smiled. "Say, you look mad about something. I hope it's not something I did." He chuckled a little. "I'd hate to think that some Maximal wench is angry with me."   
  
Airazor did nothing but snarl at Raptron. She balled her fists, but nothing more.   
  
"What's the matter? Afraid to attack me? I don't blame you." Raptron put his hand under Airazor's chin and forced her to look in his optics. "I'd snap that pretty little head of yours clean off."   
  
Airazor just clenched her fists even tighter, each breath becoming a soft growl, her whole body filling more and more with rage.   
  
Raptron knew this and he also knew it would only be a matter of time until her rage overflowed. Then she would attack, and he would have her right where he wanted her.  
  
  
  
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Quickstrike waddled casually onto the command deck of the Darkside. "You called for me, Boss Bot?"   
  
Megatron turned around and smiled. "I did, yes. I have a very important mission for you, Quickstrike!"   
  
Quickstrike's face lit up. "I take it you want me to kick some Maximal butt?"   
  
Megatron laughed. "All in good time, Quickstrike, yesss." He displayed a map on the computer screen. "You will journey to the following location and await further orders."   
  
Quickstrike studied the map. "But that's all the way across the planet!"   
  
Megatron nodded. "I know. There is something very important there. Now go!"   
  
Quickstrike scratched his robot head with his cobra head. "Alright, Bossbot. If that's what you want." He shrugged and ambled down towards the exit.   
  
Megatron sat in his throne and cackled.  
  
  
  
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Raptron leaned against a boulder, smiling at Airazor. "That's a nice scar you got there."   
  
Airazor shifted her weight.   
  
Raptron continued. "I'll bet it hurts. And I see it goes through your falcon eye. That must suck, huh? Not being able to see out of one eye. Your recon career is ruined I'd think--"   
  
Airazor was so mad she could cry. She finally shrieked at Raptron. "Shut up, you slagger!" She charged and began to punch wildly at the raptor.   
  
Raptron's optics went wide as he was having great difficulty merely defending, never mind counterattacking. He had gone too far.   
  
Airazor managed to land a few quick jabs to Raptron's face. "You will pay for what you did to me! I'll kill you! I'll send you to the Inferno, you piece of Predacon slag!"   
  
Raptron began to backpedal from the relentless onslaught given to him by Airazor. He finally found an opening and punched, but he hit nothing except air. He stood there stunned for a moment and got kicked in the side of the face by the fiery falcon.   
  
Airazor snarled at Raptron once again. "Vengeance shall be mine, Predacon!" She rushed him once again and attacked.   
  
Raptron was becoming increasingly frustrated at being unable to retaliate against Airazor's barrage of punches.   
  
Then Airazor screamed, a combination of rage and pain, and she directed it all at Raptron. Her punches became blurs and finally one got through and hit its mark.   
  
Raptron grunted as his vision blacked out for a moment. His optics became functional again to see sky! Shortly after, he landed roughly on the rocky ground. Mech fluid leaked from the side of his mouth where Airazor had connected. He rolled over onto his stomach and slammed his fist down in anger, cracking a nearby boulder in half. He could not believe she had knocked him off his feet!   
  
Blackarachnia saw Raptron get floored out of the corner of her eye and let her guard down for a second. That was all Dinobot needed to pick her up and slam her savagely into the ground.   
  
Raptron stood up and growled at Airazor. "A lucky shot, Maximal."   
  
Blackarachnia bled from the mouth as she slowly got to her feet. "We'd better get out of here, Tron. There's not much here worth fighting for anyway."   
  
Dinobot cocked his head to the side and spoke to himself. "So your name is Tron, eh? That's nice to know."   
  
Raptron turned to Blackarachnia. "What about the energon deposit?"   
  
"I shall destroy it!" announced a bold voice from above. "Such power does not belong in the hands of the Predacons!"   
  
Blackarachnia looked towards the sky and the source of the voice. "Silverbolt," she muttered.   
  
Raptron drew his mega-missile launcher. "I don't think you'll be so stupid, fuzor. Destroy that deposit and you'd injure your fellow Maximals as well!"   
  
Blackarachnia tapped him on the shoulders. "Uh, Tron? Look around.   
  
Raptron drew his attention back to the battlefield and he saw only Predacons standing there. Even the body of Optimus Primal was gone. He turned his attention skyward once again to see a missile streaking towards the quarry and Silverbolt missing. "Oh, slag... Predacons, retreat! Beast mode!" He went to raptor mode, grabbed the shielded case and followed Blackarachnia from the area at top speed.   
  
Rampage tossed Waspinator onto his back and was the last one to clear the area.   
  
Silverbolt's missile hit its mark and the explosion covered the entire sector and destroyed everything in its path. Luckily Raptron and his Predacons had gotten out, but they would be going back to the Darkside empty handed.  
  
  
  
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After the lengthy trip back to the Axalon, Dinobot set Optimus Primal into the CR chamber to begin his repairs. He turned to Rhinox. "So now we have a name for this Predacon."   
  
Rhinox nodded. "As soon as Optimus is out of there, we'll begin a search through the computer databases. See if we can't find out exactly who he is_ or was."   
  
Dinobot sighed and sat in a chair. He knew the search would be a long and exhausting one.  
  
  
  
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Raptron led the Predacon procession onto the Darkside's command center. In his hands he carried the case.   
  
Megatron ran up to him excitedly. "Let's see what you found, yessss."   
  
Raptron opened the empty case. "That is what we found."   
  
Megatron growled. "Where is the alien disk!?"   
  
Raptron roared and threw the shielded case into the lava pit below where it melted. "There was no slagging disk! All it was, was a useless deposit of unstable energon. And your so-called `digging machine' really helped! Now we don't even have any energon!"   
  
Megatron turned around and sat in his throne again. "I don't appreciate your tone of voice, Raptron. No. Because of this failure, we must now rebuild. I shall have plans in the morning to get more energon. You may all use the CR tanks in the restoration room. Raptron, as the commander, shall go last to ensure the well being of his troops."   
  
Raptron nodded slowly and followed the other Predacons down the corridor. "Blackarachnia and Waspinator shall use the CR tanks first. The rest of you must wait your turn."   
  
Blackarachnia slowed down to talk to Raptron. "What about you? What are you going to do until your turn in the CR tank?"   
  
Raptron stopped just outside the elevator door to the lower deck. "I guess I'll just go lay down in my quarters for a while. I'll see you after you're done repairing."   
  
Blackarachnia nodded. "Thanks, Tron. I guess I'll see you then." She smiled and snuck a quick hug in. Then she winked and jogged to catch up with the other Predacons.   
  
Raptron sighed and stepped on the lift. He was battered and he was low on power. He growled as he thought of the bitter defeat he had just suffered. "This is all Megatron's fault. I didn't see him helping us." He continued to mumble as he entered his quarters. He quickly found his bed, flopped down, and went to sleep.  
  
  
  
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Blackarachnia ascended the ladder of the CR tank and stood on the platform. "Megatron is such a fool," she thought as she was being lowered into the tank. "He's led us to failure one too many times. I must now take matters into my own hands." She smiled to herself and went offline to begin the restoration procedure. 


End file.
